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Robert's Rebellion
Robert's Rebellion, was a rebellion against House Targaryen, primarily instigated by Eddard Stark, Jon Arryn, and Robert Baratheon, for whom it is named. It lasted "close to a year" and resulted in Aerys II Targaryen's death, and Rhaegar's reign, thus it is considered a failed rebellion. Background Tourney at Harrenhal In 281 AC, a grand tourney was held by Lord Walter Whent at Harrenhal. Many nobles from all over the Seven Kingdoms came to the riverlands to take part in the festivities. Amongst them were the heir to Winterfell, Brandon Stark, and his younger siblings, Eddard, Lyanna and Benjen. The most prominent visitor of the tourney was King Aerys II Targaryen, however. Aerys had not left the Red Keep for many years, ever since his half-year capture during the Defiance of Duskendale, but was inspired to come to the tourney by words from his master of whisperers, the eunuch Varys. The tourney was cause for great celebration, as spring had come to Westeros, or so men thought. In addition, all of the White Swords had gathered to welcome their newest member, Ser Jaime Lannister. However, the tourney's ending was less joyful. After winning the final tilt, Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen was to crown the new queen of love and beauty. Instead of crowning his wife, the Dornish princess Elia Martell, Rhaegar rode past her and crowned Lyanna Stark of Winterfell instead. Eddard Stark would later recall this moment as "the moment when all smiles died". 'Abduction' of Lyanna Stark About a year later, Lyanna Stark was seemingly abducted by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Her brother, Brandon Stark, was on his way to Riverrun to wed Catelyn Tully, when the news reached him. Brandon rode at once to King's Landing with his companions, Ethan Glover, who was Brandon's squire, Elbert Arryn, nephew to Lord Jon Arryn and the heir of the Eyrie, Kyle Royce, and Jeffory Mallister.Brandon rode for the Red Keep, and outside its gates, not knowing that Rhaegar was not present, shouted for Rhaegar to come out and die. This lead to King Aerys II Targaryen to arrest Brandon and his companions on the charge of plotting the murder on the crown prince. Aerys summoned the fathers of those who stood accused to court. All of them, and their sons, were killed, with only Ethan Glover as survivor. Lord Rickard Stark arrived with two hundred of his best men, yet none of them would ever return north. Rickard demanded a trial by battle, a request that the king granted him. Aerys declared fire to be the champion of House Targaryen, and had Rickard, who had dressed in his armor, suspended from the rafters in the throne room. Next, the king had his pyromancers, Rossart amongst them, kindle a blaze beneath the Lord of Winterfell. Brandon Stark was brought in as well, and placed in a Tyroshi strangling device. A longsword placed just outside of his reach, Brandon strangled himself in an attempt to reach the sword and save his father, while Lord Rickard cooked in his armor. Next, Aerys called for the heads of Lord Robert Baratheon of Storm's End, Lyanna's betrothed, and Eddard Stark, now the Lord of Winterfell, after the deaths of his father and older brother. Robert and Eddard were in the Eyrie, however, and Jon Arryn refused to oblige. Instead, he raised his banners in revolt. This act is seen as the start of the war, which would last "close to a year". The Rebellion Taking of Gulltown The fighting of the rebellion began in the Vale of Arryn. Though Jon Arryn called for all his banners, not all of his bannermen sided with him. There were those who sided with the king, chief among them Marq Grafton. Grafton called the other loyalists to aid him in barring the rebels from entering the port of Gulltown. With the port blocked, Eddard Stark decided to make his own way back to the north by crossing the Mountains of the Moon to the Fingers, where he would need to find a fisherman to carry him across the Bite. Once north, Eddard could call his banners. Gulltown's defenses eventually fell after an unknown amount of time, with Robert Baratheon slaying Marq Grafton in the taking of Gulltown. Robert then departed for Storm's End to call his banners as well. Battles at Summerhall Just as not all the lords in the Vale had sided with Jon Arryn, not all the lords in the stormlands sided with Robert Baratheon. The first major battle in the stormlands took place at Summerhall.There were three battles at Summerhall (1 on the map), all fought on one day. Lords Grandison, Cafferen, and Fell planned to join their hosts at Summerhall and march on Storm’s End, but Robert Baratheon had learned of their plans and struck first, attacking each army individually as they arrived. Lord Fell died in the battle and Robert's forces captured his son, Silveraxe. After this battle, Robert returned to Storm's End for unknown reasons. There, Robert turned his enemies into friends, as he managed to get Lords Grandison and Cafferen, both loyalist commanders, over to the rebel side, as well as Silveraxe. Battle of Ashford The next main battle that was fought was the Battle of Ashford (2 on the map). It was an indecisive victory for loyalist forces when Lord Randyll Tarly's van smashed Robert’s forces before the bulk of Lord Mace Tyrell’s main force could be brought to bear. Lord Cafferen, who had switched to the rebel side, was cut down by Randyll Tarly. Lord Tarly sent Lord Cafferen’s head to King Aerys II. By all indications, the battle was indecisive, but Mace likes to remember it as his one great victory over Robert despite his lack of involvement. Robert Baratheon managed to escape capture, in the end. After the Battle of Ashford, Mace Tyrell marched on Storm's End, and laid siege to the castle. This siege would last "close to a year". Battle of the Bells In the meantime, Eddard Stark had reached Winterfell and called his banners, and had marched to the south. Hoster Tully, the lord of Riverrun, had also joined the rebellion, on the side of the rebels, an allegiance secured by the betrothal between Eddard and Catelyn Tully, to replace the match between Brandon Stark and Catelyn, which fell through when Brandon had been killed a few short days before he was to wed Catelyn. King Aerys, due to the events in the stormlands, came to believe that his Hand of the King, Owen Merryweather, was ineffectual. The king was even considering that Merryweather might have been so ineffectual as to possibly aiding the rebellion. In result, Owen was stripped of his lands and titles, and exiled. Lord Jon Connington, a friend of Rhaegar's with a reputation of a warrior, was named as Hand in Owen's stead. Jon Connington personally led an army into the field. He was at Robert's heels, when they arrived at the Stoney Sept, which would become the site of the Battle of the Bells (3 on the map), the first major battle known to have taken place in 283 AC. Robert was wounded and hiding in Stoney Sept, when Jon took the town by force and began searching from house to house. Before Jon could find Robert, however, the forces of Eddard Stark and Hoster Tully swept into the town. Jon and his loyalist army fought back fiercely. Jon managed to wound Hoster and killed Lord Jon Arryn's cousin and last heir, Denys Arryn. At the same time, the two armies were battling all around them in the streets and in the alleys, even on some of the rooftops. At a certain point, Robert Baratheon came out of hiding and led a counterattack. When Connington saw the battle was lost, he retreated in good order. After the battle was done, King Aerys realized that Robert was not some outlaw lord, but rather the greatest threat to his dynasty since Daemon I Blackfyre. Jon Connington was exiled for his failure and stripped of lands and titles. To replace Connington, Lord Qarlton Chelsted was named Hand. It was after the Battle of the Bells that Aerys ordered his pyromancers to place caches of wildfire throughout King’s Landing, even within the Red Keep itself. With the death of Denys Arryn, Hoster Tully managed to make a marriage match between his younger daughter, Lysa, and Jon Arryn, who needed an heir, and thus a wife known to be fertile. Hoster saw both his daughters wed during a double ceremony. Amongst those present at the wedding was Robert Baratheon. However, like in the Vale, not all the Tully bannermen joined the rebel cause. Houses Ryger, Darry, Goodbrook and Mooton took the side of the Targaryens in the war, and House Frey remained neutral until the situation became clearer. commands the vessels of the North]]After the Battle of the Bells had been fought, Barristan Selmy and Jon Darry of the Kingsguard were sent into the riverlands to retrieve the remnants of Connington's army, while the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Gerold Hightower, was send by King Aerys to find Rhaegar. Rhaegar eventually returned, and managed to convince his father to ask Lord Tywin Lannister for help. From Casterly Rock the only reply was silence. Aerys's most recent Hand, Qarlton Chelsted, had become suspicious of the pyromancers who visited the king day and night. When he uncovered Aerys's wildfire plot, he tried to bring the king to other thoughts, but nothing he tried would work. In the end, he choose to resign as Hand, which caused Aerys to burn him alive. Aerys's favorite pyromancer, Rossart, was named Hand of the King in Chelsted's stead. Battle of the Trident Eventually, both loyalist and rebel forces gathered for the decisive battle in 283 AC: the Battle of the Trident (4 on the map). During the battle, Prince Rhaegar and Robert met in single combat on a ford of the Trident, while the battle crashed around them. Rhaegar wounded Robert severely, but the rebel lord managed to crash his warhammer on Rhaegar's helmet, sending him flying from his horse. However, Robert did not last long, as he died from blood loss, mere moments after dismounting Rhaegar. The site of their clash would become to be called the Ruby Ford, for the singers claim that the rubies on Rhaegar's chestplate had been sent flying to the stream around them, mingling with the blood of the prince and the rebel alike. But it is not certain if the story is the truth. It was the end of the Stormlander, but not the end of Rhaegar. The remaining Kingsguard transferred the unconscious prince out of the battlefield and to Castle Darry, which had remained loyal to the dragons. Rhaegar was kept there under the watchful eyes of his guards and the maester of the castle. It took him a fortnight to finally wake up in full consciousness. In the mean time, he had hovered between life and death. Due to the confusion after the battle and Rhaegar's unstable condition, many considered the prince gone for good. The rebels were now commanded by Eddard Stark. He and the other two lords remained idle after the death of Robert, not knowing what to do. Once the prince was fully awake, he asked for Lord Stark to come to him, which he did hesitantly. He then proceeded to tell his good-brother the truth of his and Lyanna's relationship. He even gave the Northern lord the permission -and request- to go to Lyanna. He sent Ser Barristan to accompany him and his chosen men. Sack of King's Landing Lord Tywin Lannister, who had remained neutral during the entire war, had finally stirred from Casterly Rock, suddenly appearing, shortly after the Battle of the Trident, in front of the gates of King's Landing, claiming loyalty to Aerys and asking to be let in. Aerys favored the advice of Grand Maester Pycelle over that of his spymaster Varys and opened the gates of the city. This proved Aerys's undoing, as the Lannister forces began to sack the city. Realizing all was lost, Aerys ordered his last Hand, the pyromancer Rossart, to ignite the wildfire caches throughout the city, saying, My son killed that traitor, aye, but he is dead now. And since he cannot kill the rest of them for me, I will burn them myself. Aerys then ordered Jaime Lannister, the last of his Kingsguard present in the city, and Tywin's own son, to kill his father. Instead, Jaime slew Lord Rossart and then murdered Aerys himself in the throne room. Meanwhile, Ser Gregor Clegane and Ser Amory Lorch had entered Maegor's Holdfast to deal with the rest of the royal family. Meanwhile, Rhaegar regained his ability to ride and fight, and thus, he led his host back to King's Landing. Rhaegar reached the city not long after the Lannister host, but he found his father dead in the Great Hall, and Ser Jaime Lannister over his body. He then went to Maegor's Holdfast, looking for his wife and children, and the first thing he heard was his daughter's cries for his help. He found her in his own bedchambers, about to be slain by Amory Lorch. The man instantly fell to his knees before Rhaegar, pleading for mercy. Mercy, he was granted, but he was sent back to the Westerlands, never to leave its borders. But it all happened during the next days, at that time, Rhaegar had two more people to save. He found Elia screeching and weeping for mercy, with a gigantic man looming above her. He had a cruel smile to his face and the baby Aegon in his hands. It took more than words to make the man surrender, but he finally did so. Siege of Storm's End Although more attrition than actual battle, the siege of Storm’s End (6 on the map) held up Mace Tyrell’s forces at Storm's End for the better part of the entire war. During this siege the forces of the Reach, led by Mace and Lord Paxter Redwyne, feasted within sight of the castle while Stannis Baratheon and his men starved inside. Help for Storm's End eventually came in the form of Davos Seaworth, who smuggled a cargo of onions past the blockade. The Storm's End held out until the Targaryen host arrived, led by Lewyn Martell. Then, Mace Tyrell was sent to negotiate terms with the Baratheon lord, carrying the terms Rhaegar had offered. Stannis did not accept those terms, which included exile and the full surrender of the castle. In his terms, he had demanded for Renly to become the lord of Storm's End, and for his first heir to be sent to the court as a ward. The castle was attacked the next day, and did not hold out in front of the combined host of the loyalists. Stannis and a handful of his men refused to swear fealty when captured, and they were brought to King's Landing. After about a year of imprisonment, there was a trial held for them, in which a now-maddened Rhaegar decided to send all of them to the Wall. Renly was appointed as the new lord of Storm's End, and later came to court as the Master of Laws. Rhaegar's demand for his first heir to be warded did not change, but Renly has not yet married and has no heirs. Outcomes Following the failure of the rebellion, Rhaegar was crowned king after his father's death. He delayed the trial of those who had fought against him for some time, until he sent most of them to either the Wall, exile, or merely had them killed. A few were spared, including the main commanders of the Rebellion, which he had pardoned before madness took over him, and thus, Lyanna and Elia managed to convince him not to punish them afterwards. But Rhaegar's reign proved as vile as his father's overridden by an unexpected madness which most believe to be due to the blow that he received at the Trident. Category:Events Category:House Targaryen Category:House Baratheon Category:House Stark Category:Pre Canon Events